[QUOTE 2142936, member: 45"]So, due to a buyer's solicitor who doesn't appear to give a monkey's about his clients, we're still waiting to exchange and complete. We're also only 21 days now from the end of our lock-in.
How does it work with exchanging and completing? Is the exchange binding, and if so could we agree to exchange now and complete on 30th? If we did this how much wriggling room would there be for the buyer? She's buying to add to her rental portfolio and isn't making too much fuss about her solicitor, so I suspect she'd be open to a couple more weeks' delay, but I'd be happier if we could at least commit to complete next week.[/quote]
Exchange is binding - they will pay a deposit which should be yours if they back out. I'm not sure if that will help with your mortgage. Have you discussed the issue with your lender? Alternatively, give your buyer a deadline. Make exchange conditional on a specified completion date. The biggest problem will be the lender - your buyer may not be able to force them to act quickly enough.